Old City Hall in Tacoma
Modeled after Italian Renaissance town halls, the 1893 structure features fine brickwork and terracotta ornamentation. The distinctive clock was added to the tower in 1904. The building first housed the Chamber of Commerce and was then occupied by the City which moved out in 1959. In the early 1980s, the structure was rehabilitated to house shops, restaurants and offices. In 2005, the iconic building was purchased with ambitious plans to convert it into a condominium building but the building sat idle and, due to deferred maintenance, was severely damaged by water infiltration in late 2010. A city building inspector declared the building in derelict condition in December 2010. The building was slated to be sold at public auction in March 2011 but the building owner, The Stratford Company, paid off delinquent taxes & mortgage payments. $1M in mitigation, after the water damage, removed old carpet, drywall and flooring, an investment that would have needed to be made before rehab could start. The owner has a $14M plan for rehab but has been unable to find potential tenants for 3 stories of office & retail space; the rest of the building is now currently planned for apartments. The water damage was covered extensively by local news media which heightened awareness of the vulnerability of the building in the community. The building was named to the WA Trust for Historic Preservation's 2011 Most Endangered Properties List in May 2011. The nomination was written and submitted by Gerry Sperry, Historic Tacoma member who also took the attached photo. More details are on Historic Tacoma's website at http://www.historictacoma.org/ht/old-city-hall.html
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